Photo courtesy of the Philadelphia Union
The Philadelphia Union’s home-opener did not go as planned, as the Union continued their disappointing start to the MLS season with a 2-1 loss to NYCFC. It was a heartbreaking night for the Boys in Blue, who fought their way back into the game after a rough first half, only to concede a red card and a winner in stoppage time.
It was never going to be easy to replace so many key players at once, but Bradley Carnell will now be on the clock to find solutions ahead of important games against San Jose and Club América next week.
First Half
The Union’s press seemed to create problems for City early on, but the away side grew into the game as the half progressed. NYCFC created a slew of chances starting in the 25th minute when Keaton Parks slipped a ball through to Agustin Ojeda, only for the Argentine to curl his shot off the post.
NYCFC found their breakthrough in the 36th minute, when Nicolas Fernández ran into the Union box down the left side. Although Andre Blake saved his close-range shot, he could only parry it into the path of a wide-open Hannes Wolf, who smashed the ball home from close range.
Second Half
The Union came out stronger in the second half, particularly after Ben Bender and Stas Korzeniowski entered the pitch in the 59th minute. Bender and Milan Iloski combined to flick Korzeniowski in behind in the 60th minute, only for Matt Freese to come up with a big save.
The Union had another big chance in the 66th minute when a chip from Danley bounced through some bodies to find Nathan Harriel in the box, but the defender could only sky his left-footed volley. The game was then stopped for several minutes of VAR review on a potential penalty on Jovan Lukic, but ultimately referee Chris Penso declined to award a penalty.
In the 75th minute a quick corner to Bender allowed the makeshift left-back to pick out the head of Korzeniowski, who flicked his header off the post.
The Union finally found their equalizer just before stoppage time, when Thiago Martins dragged down Korzeniowski in the box. This time Chris Penso pointed to the spot, and Indiana Vassilev calmly slotted home the penalty.
However, it wasn’t to be Philly’s night, as the Union repeatedly shot themselves in the foot during the ten minutes of stoppage time. First Olwethu Makhanya was sent off for a second yellow for dissent in the 92nd minute. Then, with just seconds left in the match, Tayvon Gray fought past his man to get his head on an Ojeda cross, firing past Blake for the match winner.
PSP’s Three Points
- More Discipline Needed. Two red cards for dissent in two weeks is a terrible look.
- Subs make a difference. There was a tangible increase in intensity after Bender and Korzeniowski entered the game in the second half. The pair were each involved in several chances for the Union, and could be important options off of Bradley Carnell’s depleted bench.
- Tunnel vision. There were several instances throughout the game where the Union attackers missed a chance to switch play to a wide-open player streaking down the opposite side.
Lineups
Philadelphia Union (4-2-2-2) Andre Blake; Nathan Harriel, Olwethu Makhanya, Japhet Sery, Frankie Westfield (Ben Bender – 59’); Jovan Lukic, Danley Jean Jacques; Indiana Vassilev (Geiner Martinez – 94’), Augustin Anello (Stas Korzeniowski – 59’); Milan Iloski (Cavan Sullivan – 83’), Bruno Damiani (Sal Olivas – 83’)
Unused Substitutes: Andrew Rick, Jeremy Rafanello, Jesus Bueno, Alejandro Bedoya
NYCFC (4-3-3): Matthew Freese; Raul Gustavo, Thiago Martins, Kevin O’Toole, Tayvon Gray; Keaton Parks, Aiden O’Neill (Kai Trewin – 83’), Maxi Morález (Seymour Reid – 74’); Agustin Ojeda, Hannes Wolf (Andrew Baiera – 83’), Nicolas Fernández (Talles Magno – 90’)
Unused Substitutes: Nico Cavallo, Maxi Carrizo, Strahinja Tanasijevic, Jonathan Shore, Tomas Romero
Scoring Summary:
NYCFC: Hannes Wolf – 36’
PHI: Indiana Vassilev – 89’ Pen.
NYCFC: Tayvon Gray – 90’+9’
Disciplinary Summary:
NYCFC: Tayvon Gray (Yellow – Foul) – 20’
PHI: Olwethu Makhanya (Yellow – Foul) – 23′
NYCFC: Aiden O-Neill (Yellow – Foul) – 39
PHI: Olwethu Makhanya (Second Yellow – Dissent) – 90’+2’
PHI: Japhet Sery (Yellow – Foul) – 90’+5’
Can’t imagine how empty the stadium will be when the schedule changes.
Chris Penso proves two wrongs can make a right with his penalty decisions.
Alladoh and Makhanya. Both sent off for dissent in the same week, costing their teams 6 points. A solvable problem, but a childish problem to have in the first place.
Sundstrom and Bender. Both beaten for match winning goals in the same week, costing their team 6 points. A solvable problem, but a silly problem to have in the first place except the FO didn’t replace Wagner earlier with a real LB.
Wagner was beaten on many, many occasions the same way Bender was.
He was but I’ll take that tradeoff for his contributions at the other end. Doesn’t change the fact his replacement should have been rhe first one signed, not the last
You can’t justify in any way to me sending this Anello guy out there in front of Cavan Sullivan. Vassilev too but he’s a Carnell guy with ‘work rate’ and he gets alot of touches and sometimes good shit happens (though he picked the wrong pass on a couple attacks IMO —->) but not the other guy on the other side. He brings nothing at this point for my eye. CSullivan picked the defensive lock in 90 seconds when he came on.
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Big defending trouble otherwise. I’m not even going to mention the DUNDERHEADED center back who fucked his team tonight. Many people blaming Penso on that one don’t seem to blame the player for being on a yellow already. Immature. And about that CB. Man he needs to get a whole lot better. Trots around too much for me…
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Numerical superiorities every where on the field for New York. Lukic definitely better then Bueno.
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All in all when your entire identity is based on rest defense (because you cannot possess the ball) and counter-the counter attacking counter attack transition… and the timing of that is a mess, it is ugly and mindbending. Meanwhile a 17 year old kid with 2 gols and 2 assists this week sits the bench.
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Penso gave them a PK gift after who knows what on that first VAR. Proving it to be no less subjective then not having VAR at all…man I do not favor VAR.
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Credit to Bender for injecting life into the team. What gives with people filing out so early? Cold on the river I guess.
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Finally…when two guys 5’3” tall are the best players on the field it makes me wish if only our best US athletes played soccer. I mean what we need are more Nathaniel Harriel types. Apologies. But it is true too.
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How long til an investor group relaunches USL Philadelphia Atoms?
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Can we all agree that Damiani sucks?
Stas Korzeniowski was awesome. Had an immediate impact.
Cavan had no impact whatsoever despite what el Pachyderm says!
Incorrect. Unfortunately the player (can’t remember who) fumblefucked it.
Very ugly…
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Last season, the Union were able to control the midfield battle, but in both games this year, DC and NYC were able to play through midfield or over midfield often enough to take the bite out of the Union’s press.
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It’s a hard style of soccer to find joy in watching…
The 5’3 but imagine if we had “our best athletes” thing is funny. Have you considered that their shape is an advantage and the shape of the typical NBA/NFL player would be a disadvantage in most parts of a soccer game? It’s an endurance and balance sport.
Broad St.
That is the point of the comment, yes.
Piece of shit game by a piece of shit team. You can say all you want about new faces, but 9 of the 11 starters had regular minutes last season with all but Iloski who came midseason having at least 1700 minutes and all but Blake and Iloski playing at least 25 regular season games. It’s a team that overperformed last year and appears to be sinking back to 2024 levels this year. You’re not a very good team when Ben Bender is your best field player like he was tonight.
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While Chris Penso is a horrible ref, he was not the decisive factor in this game. He should have given the Union at least 2 more yellow cards for stopping (or trying to stop) promising attacks. He also needs to learn that when a player goes down with a potential head injury, he needs to blow the whistle right away and not wait until the team with the ball turns it over.
Glad I wasn’t the only one who thought Penso completely blew the head injury stoppage. Collision happens, he’s looking right at it and sees Makhanya stays down, lets play continue while NYC has the ball and only blows the whistle once Union gain possession. Amazing
It wasn’t just that one. There was another in the first half (don’t remember who it was) and he waited until NY played the ball out of bounds before blowing the whistle.
Welcome Back ?
Rough match.
Gonna be a long season.
Need better from Damiani.
Need to teach discipline to the back line.
Onwards.
Just wondering……
Did anybody else find it “odd” that the league thought it a good idea to have the spouse of an official who is peripherally involved in the current suspension of a FO official ref a Union match?
Bruno is a massive mistake. He is a turtle who can’t press in a system that demands it. Stas is cheaper, better and should start.
Anello had no clue where to go or what to do. That is on Carnell. Guy is clearly not ready at this point. Sery makes Glesnes look rapid.
These players can’t win because too few can execute the basics of the game. When demolition derby ball falls they have no answer.
The S. African Postecoglou will be drummed out of the league again. This shit is unwatchable-and I maintain they don’t care-and are already looking towards 2027 rebuild.
What? Have to explain the comment about the Ref and Here Tanner’s accuser? I read it three times… help.
To quote a classic line from the Disaster Artist on the state of the Union Why Lisa Why ? You are killing me.
Boring, hollow, uninspired… and how many more times can we count on Andre to save the coach’s job? He saved Curtin so many times, and now again doing it for our shield, but WOW… he has to be thinking retirement and restaurant ownership at home. Very sad state, Union goaltender succession… and sorry but Andrew Rick is NOT ready to replace Blake. 7-0 last Vancouver visit only a glimpse especially with the Kiddie Korp backline who can’t comport themselves as adults.
On a very positive note… Stas. He IS a force that MIGHT help out this season, but really? A Union 2, maybe USL Championship player, as exciting as he is, as Conor Casey-esce as he will be.. he is NOT the answer.
How much did Herr Tanner imposters pay strikers for this season? Too much to think about last night and hope the San Jose visit will cure a few things for us Sat.
I’m going to disagree with the idea that Rick is not ready to replace Blake. Is he as good as Blake? Of course not. But neither were McCarthy or Freese when they left and look what they’ve done with a full time job and IMO Rick is better than either one of them at this stage in his career. Yeah, he gave up 7 in Vancouver. But that was a lineup with Bedoya at right back and a few other backups playing (and Wagner starting on the bench). Blake isn’t perfect either…think about him giving up 6 against Pachuca the year before with an actual back 4 where no one was out of position with Harriel and Wagner as the outside backs.
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Given that this team is clearly going nowhere, they should trade/sell Blake while they can still get something for him and promote Rick to starting keeper.
Let’s also not forget Zac MacMath and Zach Steffen. Producing quality keepers is our strongest talent to date.
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We may not have to debate Rick versus Blake if Blake doesn’t stay healthy, hence why we need Rick even for necessity.
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Plus, Rick has a future at 20 y/o. Blake is 35 y/o and become injury prone. His time is rapidly closing.
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Trading Blake isn’t unthinkable anymore. As you said, get a price before it’s too late. Blake might also want a chance at championship trophies before he retires, and that certainly won’t happen in Philly before his short time left is done.
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The right trade for Blake might work for all concerned. He’ll still be a club legend and surely be offered an honorary retirement with us when he hangs up his boots.
Yeah, agree… somewhat. The names mentioned, including Coronel, never developed with us because they were all blocked by Blake… understandable… the org leaning on him since the day we drafted him. The challenge has always been Blake was too good, even as far back as M’Bholi… and even if we trade him or ‘retire him’ the prospects are slim to replace him now.
It’s a challenge we all saw coming, Tanner was avoiding I believe .. and this is the year I guess a decision will be made.
Wasn’t expecting much this season… after 2 games, NOT expecting anything now.
Spent the match yelling either : Who’s that guy? or What the hell was that? Mixed with expletives I’ll spare PSP readers. Best case scenario is last night’s performance was a mix of playing mid-week and getting used to a new core of players across the starting 11. But man, it was a rough watch. NYC not even that good a team. Plenty willing to turn the ball over and discombobulated at the back, but all we do is run around and pass the ball into dead ends, if not to an opposing player. No where to go but up from here.
I’m not buying those excuses (new players or midweek game). 9 of the 11 starters had significant time last year (8 had at least 17 minutes and Iloski played regularly once he arrived). Only 2 of the starters played Thursday night (Lukic got a 45 minute training run since he hadn’t been healthy and Makhanya played into the second half).
Local product Freese is another fine keeper that we produced. On the flip side, we haven’t produced good shooters. A card board cutout of Freese could have minded the net on most so-called shots. Out of 17 Union shots, only 5 were on net. 10 of their 13 shots were on net.
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With zero goals from the run of play in two matches, we’ll obviously keep losing until we see players get shots and headers on frame against MLS level teams or better.
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So much of this involves basic discipline and tradecraft that should have been ironed out by the professional level, e.g., keep your head down and focus through delivery. Instead, they pick their head up through delivery because they also want to see their passes, shots and goals happen too. Like in other sports, we all know what happens when you do that–it skies and/or shanks it.
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Coaching bear responsibility along with the players to remove bad habits. We need some Coach Lou Brown from the baseball comedy Major League to get the message across, e.g., when Willie Mays Hayes kept looking up through bat to ball contact, getting his follow through posture twisted, and popping the ball up in batting practice.
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Lou Brown: Well, you can run like Hays, but you hit like shit. With your speed, you should be hitting the ball on the ground and be legging them out. Every time I see you hit one in the air, you owe me 20 push-ups.
Hope you brought the Union Cliff of Despair over with the website change.
The league GIFTED the Union a 2026 schedule that includes EIGHT of the first ten vs non playoff 2025 teams… TWICE vs. DCU, one in Montreal and Toronto OUTSIDE IN CANADA in April… and THIS is how we respond, with 2 loses?
Last night was freakin’ freezing, and no wind from the river thankfully. I see an MLS which has lost its mind, needs to find management that can understand games above the Mason Dixon line BEFORE April just suck for attendees. But they could care less about us.
Sounds like you’re looking forward to the winter schedule coming up about as much as my wife is. 🙁 🙁
Gender aside, games in November thru March just suck on the River, or north of Carolina, and last night there was no wind but from behind Sec 114, thankfully.
Yesterday was Miami compared to some recent year openers. A couple of years ago, we all got sick in a windy ice freeze with only around 5000 present. Crazy game with wet ice blowing and falling from the roof, brutal winds off the river, etc.
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It’s gonna get worse in 2027 forward with the new Summer-to-Spring calendar (July to May), aligning with major European leagues. There will be no matches in January, but that’s a small concession.
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I’m not a fan of this change. North American weather is markedly harsher than Europe’s in Winter. Europe has the warming advantage of the North Atlantic Drift from the Gulf Stream and prevailing westerly winds to carry its warmth over Europe. North America has no major east-west mountain barriers to stop cold air from moving down from the Arctic. The Rockies block warm air and allow Arctic air to sweep south, whereas Europe’s mountain ranges run east-west, allowing warmer air to flow inland.
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Just like I prefer that teams use the American club naming traditions, e.g., Philadelphia Union, rather than ape someone else’s from Europe in ripoff kitsch, some things make sense doing it differently. Respecting our weather differences should speak for itself.
To change the subject a bit (and those who weren’t at the game last night can skip this), but did anyone else think yesterday’s pregame show was essentially a dud?
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A light show and fireworks during the daytime? I learned 45 years ago when Letterman was doing his morning show that daytime fireworks are a recipe for disaster. But his was intentional and he made it funny. The Union pregame was just sad.
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And if you are trying to hype the Union, why are you having an Eagle banging the drum (which was meaningless to those of who don’t follow the NFL). Seems like Seba or Sheannon or even Quinn would all have been better choices. But given the team’s decision making lately, I guess that is par for the course.
The funniest part of that was the fireworks being on the field before the final watering, (and getting watered.) Felt sorry for the Fireworks guy who got soaked trying to protect his box of fireworks. I agree fireworks when half the stadium can’t see anyway due to the sun in their eyes. I don’t know if the U is going to score enough this year for the warning about the flashing lights to be needed before the game.
You must have been sitting near me (section 127) since I saw the fireworks guy trying to keep them dry too (but had forgotten about it).
I missed it because I was stuck trying to get into our season ticket assigned parking lot at Lot A. Someone had the bright idea to cut the entry gate personnel down to one sweet lady, backing up traffic out to the main road. Has anyone else experienced this frustrating staff cutback in other official lots?
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Whoever cut the parking lot entry staff down to one lane and scan person wins the Village Idiot award for penny wise pound foolish. I won’t renew parking passes for next season unless the Union properly staffs the parking lots for easier and timely entry. The private lots do a fine job and often at reasonable price.
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I actually like it when we bring in noteworthy athletes from other Philly sports teams to bang the drum, invite mascots like Swoop and the Phanatic, etc.
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The fellowship helps us. I have fond memories when the Phillies supporters group came to hang out with us diehards outside Subaru for lockout matches during COVID.
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IMO, we should build on that to better integrate us into the overall Philly sports scene.
Sorry to hear about Lot A issues. It was fine Thursday night with only one person when no one was there 🙂 🙂 . (When my wife is with me like yesterday we park in Lot F handicapped…easier to get in but MUCH worse than Lot A after the game.)
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While I don’t agree, I can see your point about other Philly sports personalities banging the drum (although I’d rather see a kid attending the game do it with their parent(s)…would mean a lot more to them than to a pro athlete). Still for opening day I think someone associated with the Union would be best.
The drum thing is cooked… not ever a fan. But I do like the idea of little kids swinging away. Why not a Liberty Bell though? Seems more fitting than that big drum.
And yeah, Union alumni should be honored not ignored. Opening night and that was the presentation? Like the scarfs again this year… MEH.
Dang, I wish you’d suggested the Liberty Bell before I just wrote to my rep commenting about yesterday’s festivities!
Lot A was fine at 300pm… and yeah that lady is just the nicest. The advantage of Lot A is exiting… always has been the fastest to get on the bridge for us.
It wasn’t a popular sentiment in the pre-season but, as I said then, it’s clear Stas should be starting over Damiani. Anyone that didn’t see a difference when he was subbed on is fooling themself.
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It’s time to seriously question all of the other decisions making being made, too. With the Red Card last week, I was sure that the top 2 Forwards yesterday would be Stas and Damiani. After the mid week breakout of Cavan, I was also looking forward to him finally starting opposite Iloski, in the midfield, too. Somehow, Carnell screwed up this simple concept.
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Even in a substitution role, in what world is NYCFC’s 17 year old substituted before our consensus best youth prospect, and Man. City 16 year old transfer, Cavan Sullivan? Also, I don’t understand this fascination/trust Carnell has in Vassilev. To me, he seems to waste too much energy, running erratically with his head down, worrying about his dribble, rather than looking down field. I think his turnovers and missed passes support that thought.
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Also, we have serious problems at LB and RB. No offense, or runs, are coming from the wings with Westfield/Harriel. While he may not have had tons of assists, and you may give up a bit of defense, we were creatively much better on the right when Mbaizo was the starter. I would rather win games 3-2, than lose games 0-1. I don’t know who the fix is for the LB spot, though. While Bender got after it on the offensive side, he was a huge liability in the defensive box, getting significantly muscled out on that NYCFC game winning header. I hope that Ndinga is a huge signing coup.
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Doop!